Output details

Float Glass

Sculpture: two part construction of cast glass and metal.

Brief Description

A site specific original sculpture, commissioned by the Trustees of the Museum to celebrate the life and work of Sir Alastair Pilkington, and specifically his invention of the float glass process in1952 which revolutionised the production of sheet glass globally. The sculpture is situated at Pilkington’s ‘World of Glass Museum’, Merseyside and was unveiled by HRH Princess Alexandra on 13th May 2010. The Museum is a national public resource, dedicated to the presentation of glass, the material, its history in objects, and its manufacturing methods.

Research Rationale

Possible interpretations of the design brief were explored through drawings and models (2), leading to the use of a cast tin form to support the glass cast and to reflect the float process. The combination of glass and tin reflects the nature and relationship between the hot glass and the impact on it during the contact with the metal.

The final sculpture weighs over 60 kilos, with both parts being cast using the lost-wax method. The combination of tin with glass has not been used before in sculpture on this scale. The way in which the metal form supports the glass purely through weight and inertia (without glues or pinning) needed an extensive period of experiment and development.

Strategies Undertaken

The commission was developed in consultation with the Pilkington family, the patrons of the museum. The solution was developed through discussions based on increasingly detailed drawings and models and a quarter scale model of the sculpture which is now in the private collection of the Pilkington family. For the realisation of the final design, ways of casting such a (relatively) large piece of solid metal had to be developed, and of supporting the 40kg glass block.